Another whole year of weather has come and gone, and now that 2013 is officially in the books we thought it would be a good time to look back on some of the more extreme weather events. This past year certainly did have its fair share of active weather, not only here in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, but across the nation and even the world. Below we will highlight some of the most significant weather events of 2013.

Well the winter of 2013-2014 is just about at its half-way point. Meteorological winter is considered to be December, January and February; although winter weather will often linger into at least the first half of March. Based on the definition of meteorological winter the mid-point would be January 15th. With this in mind, I was curious how this winter "stacks up" so far. I'm sure anyone can tell you that this winter is off to a fast, very active start; all areas in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic have already seen several snow and ice events along with outbreaks of brutal cold.

On October 22nd, 2012 at 8 AM a tropical depression developed in the Southwest Caribbean Sea, about 305 miles south-southwest of Kingston, Jamaica. Approximately 6 hours later, this depression became a tropical storm and Sandy was born. From there, Sandy tracked northward, striking Jamaica, Cuba, and the Bahamas with Category 3 winds of 115 MPH at its peak. In addition to its intensification, Sandy rapidly grew, nearly doubling its original size by October 26th.

We all use radar to assist in planning outdoor activities. Should we bring an umbrella? Is a severe thunderstorm on its way? Or will we be dry the rest of the day? While radar helps us forecast upcoming weather, few understand exactly how it works. The evolution of radar is an interesting one and it's surprising how such a vital instrument got its start.

In the table below, we've listed snowfall totals for selected cities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through November 15th of this year and last year. As you can see we are off to another fast start in the snow department. Does this mean we will see heaps of snow this upcoming winter?? Not necessarily. If you take a look at last year's totals through November 15th you can see that we were off to what seemed like a record start for high snowfall totals...but in the end, most places ended the season with well below average snowfall.